Podcast Design

Maximilian Büsser: Design Tangents Episode Eleven

The punk rock provocateur of Swiss watchmaking on creating to fulfill your own desires

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

7 February 2024

Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Maximilian Büsser (who we have known for more than 15 years) is nothing less than a renegade in the very traditional Swiss watch world. As the founder of MB&F he’s continued to surprise and delight watch and clock collectors globally with his visionary pieces—and draw attention to historic partners. In 2014, Büsser was the subject of a COOL HUNTING Video, and one year later we collaborated with the pioneering provocateur on a COOL HUNTING Edition Starfleet Machine. His work manages to be both futuristic and nostalgic—bound by a sense of wonder. Celebrating Swiss watchmaking, human craftsmanship, and mechanical art, MB&F’s creations are much more than time-telling machines (though they do that too).

Büsser began in the traditional watch industry. As a child, he thought he’d be a car designer and studied engineering. However, he ended up at the prestigious maison Jaeger-LeCoultre, back when it was a small brand and at a time when the world did not know what to do with mechanical watches. After seven years at Jaeger-LeCoultre, several as its CEO, he moved to luxury powerhouse Harry Winston, where he began to amass considerable success. “Watchmaking saved me,” he tells us. “It gave me a family. It gave me a life. It gave me a purpose,” he says.

However, there was a disconnect between his success at Harry Winston, his relationship to his own father, and his desire to do what he believes in and be proud of it. He started to imagine a small, disruptive company of his own. In 2005, he stepped away from the mainstream and began to redefine what watches could be. “MB&F is a life decision,” he tells us. “It is not a business decision.”

Büsser is full of advice. “Stop creating to please people. Try to create for yourself,” the entrepreneur says. “That’s not something you’re brought up on. I want to create something that I love.” Büsser adds that, at first, he didn’t know what he loved and part of the process with MB&F has been uncovering it. To learn more about what’s inspired him, how he has upended the industry and what he hopes for the future of the brand, listen in to Design Tangents now.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Suchi Reddy: Design Tangents Episode Ten

Diving into the dance between emotion and logic in the design process with the acclaimed architect, artist, teacher and neuroaesthetics practitioner

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

24 January 2024

Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Suchi Reddy has inspired COOL HUNTING writers, editors and readers for years now. The founder of the architecture, art and design firm Reddymade, Reddy is an architect, artist, teacher and a practitioner of the mantra “form follows feeling.” Her roster of perspective-shifting works includes the mesmeric large-scale installation “Look Here” inside Washington DC’s National Building Museum, the immersive “me + you” sculpture for the FUTURES exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, the beloved “X” pavilion for Times Square Arts and a range of residential and commercial architectural projects including Google’s first retail store. Reddy, a passionate thought leader in creating spaces that make us feel, was the ideal guest to discuss the dance between emotion and logic in the design process; her insights inform and inspire.

The breadth and depth of Reddy’s work is unified by her values and distinct perspective. “I do not look at people’s work and say that’s interesting to me because of a style,” she tells us. “It’s interesting to me because of its substance—because of the idea that’s being explored. People ask if I’m a modernist? Yes, I am. But mostly, however, I’m a serenist. I will make whatever you want—but serene. If you’re a maximalist, or a developer that wants a beautifully energizing space, that’s what I’ll do, because I want to try to understand the feeling of the space or project that I need to communicate.” Reddy wants to direct design conversations around style to that of “the democratic space of the body. I want people to be able to understand spaces through their senses, through their feelings.”

For Reddy’s practice, art and architecture work in tandem. Her contributions to the public art space also allow her clients access into her brain. “My practice is quite unusual in that it covers architecture, interior design, public art installations and artistic works. We’re also interested in the research that underpins the workings of neuroaesthetics, a study that looks at how spaces and experiences impact our brains and bodies.” Through neuroaesthetics, Reddy designs an agenda of equity, equality, agency and empathy for all that she creates.

“21 years into doing this, what keeps me going is the fact that I feel this incredible satisfaction when something is made,” she says. Whether her work manifests as a private residence, or a collaboration unveiling at Milan Design Week, it is predicated on an understanding that we build our worlds outward from our bodies—and feelings will always influence our intepretation of everything that we see. Listen to the latest episode to learn more about the ways that form follows feeling.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Culture

Zane Lowe: Design Tangents Episode Nine

We kick off of our second season with Apple Music’s head of artist relations, podcast host and lead anchor for Apple Music 1 Radio on diligence, instinct and what makes for a great interview

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

10 January 2024

To kick off the second season of Design Tangents, COOL HUNTING’s podcast exploring the creative processes and inspirations that drive change-makers, we needed to lead with a voice anchored in passion and wisdom. That was what brought us to Zane Lowe’s studio at Apple Music in LA, where we sat down with the influential host. Lowe, once referred to as “Pop’s Unofficial Therapist” by the New York Times, is Apple Music’s head of artist relations and the lead anchor for Apple Music 1 Radio, and hosts the The Zane Lowe Interview Series and The Zane Lowe Show podcasts. Lowe’s roles are owed to his intuitive skills at interviewing and his passion for music—born from a need to find a place where he felt understood. In our insightful conversation, Lowe shares his thoughts on diligence, instinct and what makes for a great interview. He also relishes us with a tale of an interview that changed his life and taught him there was space for him to be both a fan and do his job.

In 2015, Lowe spearheaded the efforts behind the launch of Apple’s Beats 1 Radio, which transformed into the renowned Apple Music 1 Radio, helping usher in a new era of music broadcasting. Throughout his tenure, Lowe has learned about the importance of structure and balance, and the power of listening. “I was terrible at being present when I was younger, only up until very recently have I felt like I’ve been in practice on that,” he shared with us. “It’s a practice for sure and it will be forever. That’s where self-awareness comes in handy.”

Lowe is known for presenting his questions and interpretations to his guests in the most thoughtful way. He notes that it’s about reading the energy of the room—and being as informed as possible in advance. “I cannot talk to you unless I’ve heard your music,” he says. “That, to me, is research 101. The number one thing I have to do, and I’ve said this before, is that I have to feel the music. I have to know the intention, from my perspective, of the music.”

“Music doesn’t get put in the same descriptive categories as some of the other arts,” he adds. “It’s been so successfully commodified and commercialized and distributed as a packaged product that people often forget that it’s not the intention most of the time.” Lowe seeks to uncover why each track has been made—and his listeners benefit from his curiosity. Tune in to learn more about Lowe’s process, what moves him and a recent experience that set a new standard for sound experiences.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Matty Benedetto: Design Tangents Episode Eight

Our inspiring conversation with the self-described “evil genius” inventor and content creator

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

21 June 2023

Behind more than 400 inventions over the last four years, serial creator Matty Benedetto—the founder of Unnecessary Inventions—is as prolific as he is entertaining and inspiring. A self-described “evil genius,” Benedetto works from a studio in Burlington, Vermont, solving problems, assembling unexpected creations and sharing content to millions of loyal fans on Instagram and TikTok. Benedetto makes for a thrilling guest on our latest episode of Design Tangents, where he provides insight on social media success, being authentic first and foremost and operating as a one-man company surrounded by nothing but ideas and his machines.

Benedetto’s entrepreneurialism began when he crochet ski hats—at age 13—for his friends. By the time he went to school for business and marketing, he already had his own company. Our paths first crossed in 2012, when we became obsessed with his cloth iPhone cables. “I am just jumping from one idea to the next at all times,” he tells COOL HUNTING. “Every few years I need to reinvent what I am doing.”

I see the final image of the invention in my head before I start making it. I work backward

After his first invention when viral on Reddit, Benedetto volleyed his online success into a series of (often silly) problem-solving pieces. “All of my inventions I create, I see the final image of the invention in my head before I start making it. I work backward,” he explains. These have ranged from the Burrito Bumper (which funnels spillage into a taco) to a Tic Tac organizer (which stifles the jangling sound inside a case), as well as Airsticks (AirPods paired with chopsticks) and Gator Grip “Croc” gloves (which led to a cease and desist letter). None of these have ever been for sale. That’s not the point. “With the internet these days, you have to do something that’s unexpected to be noticed,” he adds. “Everything’s been done a million different ways, a million different times.”

Benedetto often makes the astounding possible—and encourages others to do suspend disbelief and do the same. “A lot of people give themselves false roadbloacks to bringing something to life that they want to see. I think I ignore all that,” he says. With a new board game on the market (after a year and a half in development), Benedetto also has a product people can take home. Learn about it all at this episode of Design Tangents now.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. When each episode comes out it will be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Thandiwe Muriu: Design Tangents Episode Seven

We hear how the artist found her voice and a perspective on post-internet Kenyan creative culture

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

7 June 2023

Thandiwe Muriu is Kenya’s first woman commercial photographer and a photographic artist of international acclaim. Encouraged by her family, Muriu developed a passion for photography in her teens and set out to become a professional photographer. This blossomed into a career in the world of advertising, and later into the exploration of personal projects. Her energy, optimism and enthusiasm are immense—all of which you can feel the love, power and creativity she shares from the opening moments all the way through our latest episode of Design Tangents.

Muriu knew from the beginning that she was more interested in creating narratives. She built sets with what she could find, citing that creative recycling is distinctly Kenyan: if “you can’t afford to buy things to solve your problems you look at what you have and solve them that way.” This is a practice she continues to honor today, recognizing that “there is beauty even in that difficulty and I wanted to bring that to my work.”

As her career developed and commercial work was taking off she started to feel like something was missing. “I had gotten into the routine of creation but I had lost the heart of creating in that process. That’s the moment I began making art—when I began taking pictures for myself and having projects exclusively for myself.” This was when her “Camouflage” series was born. “I began to make art that was impactful when I began to allow more of my story to show in my images,” she says. This shift unlocked a new level of creative energy for Muriu and it’s influencing her commercial work as well.

“They always come first,” Muriu say of the Ankara textiles that inform her “Camouflage” series. The bold, hypnotic and colorful patterns are the backdrop of each image, are used to make the clothes for the model and establish the title of the final work—which is often named by finding a Kenyan proverb that matches. Some of her favorites are “A woman’s beauty is not hidden in her face,” “A diamond does not lose value due to lack of admiration” and “When your sister does your hair you do not need a mirror.”

The model is photographed in situ—everything you see was created and captured on set. “I want to celebrate our natural beauty and address some of the stereotypes in Kenya,” she explains while talking about the models she chooses. Muriu also collects objects that she, in the spirit of Kenyans making do with that they have, uses to design unique eyewear for each image. She has jua kali artisans craft these items—which are also art works of art on their own.

Art was viewed as something you did if you failed at life. That stereotype is beginning to change and that means people have more courage to want to become an artist.

Nairobi’s perception of artists, Muriu shares, infers that “art was viewed as something you did if you failed at life. That stereotype is beginning to change and that means people have more courage to want to become an artist.” She talks about a shifting creative perspective, “I call it the new Africa. We’re tired of other people telling our stories and we are beginning to recognize our changing identities.” Heavily influenced through exposure to global media online she describes a “new hybrid culture” that’s still African in its roots yet also very Westernized. “Someone like me would reject tradition but I’m coming to this place of realizing it’s a core part of who I am and it doesn’t take away from the other aspects of me that are very Western.”

Muriu sees her work as an opportunity to further share her culture and educate an international audience. “I get to bring my Kenyan voice to global issues and platforms,” she says. And though her commercial clients are from all over she always encourages them to “come to Nairobi” if they want a deep understanding of her personal style.

Words cannot truly convey Muriu’s magnetism. Tune in to this episode of Design Tangents to hear her voice and learn more about her work, culture and motivation. And because, as she says, “Instagram literally opened doors for my career,” be sure to follow her there, too.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. When each episode comes out it will be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Presented by Genesis

Luc Donckerwolke and SangYup Lee: Design Tangents Episode Six

Our conversation with the Chief Creative Officer and the Global Design Head at Genesis

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

25 May 2023

First Luc Donckerwolke, Chief Creative Officer of Genesis and Hyundai, and then SangYup Lee, Global Design Head at Genesis, were awarded World Car Person of the Year the last two years—an incredible achievement for the award to go to designers, and the same parent company, two years in a row. This wasn’t a surprise to those who have known the two for many years and who have seen their slow and steady work over the last six years since they arrived at the brand. These two acclaimed designers are responsible for differentiating Korean automotive design and positioning Genesis as an international leader in the industry.

Genesis partnered with us as our launch season sponsor for our new COOL HUNTING podcast, Design Tangents, and as part of that we had the opportunity to spend several weeks in Korea doing a deep dive into many aspects of design and culture. For episode six, we underscored our collaboration by sitting down with Donckerwolke and Lee to address the tools of automotive design, the evolution of Korean design on the world stage, and how designers plan for an industry that must forever point toward the future or be left in the dust.

Before you design products, you design the team.

Donckerwolke and Lee have not only designed cars for Genesis, they’ve established an entire brand—and they broke some established automotive design rules (like treating the front of a car like a face) in the process. “Before you design products, you design the team,” Donckerwolke says. “Then you design the process. Then you create the DNA. Then you start applying it. In the meantime, everything you do is reacting.” Today we’re seeing this process manifest across all of the brand’s touch points.

“We always had this process of bouncing ideas back and forth,” Donckerwolke continues. “There is no boss between ourselves. We are eye to eye. We are designers. When I share an idea, I know it is going to be the start of a creative exchange,” Donckerwolke says. Lee acknowledges the power of this. “This is what makes us very strong.”

“A car is an emotional product and…design is very delicate work. Sometimes, depending on what type of pen you sketch with, the result varies,” Lee tells us of his process, which involves a myriad of tools, including physical models from clay. But, “we are just getting a new tool, a palette of tools. It’s AI. It’s influencing [our work], as well.” “It’s only going to be a tool because in the end you have to steer it,” Donckerwolke adds.

“I think we were both made to be car designers,” Donckerwolke reflects on their careers as he shifts toward the future, Genesis’ newest product announcement will be its last last-ever internal combustion car: the GV 80 Coupe Concept, when it goes into production. “It’s a more extroverted element of the family and it’s also a teaser for the fact that we are going to increase the adrenaline in the whole lineup,” he says. “We are gradually increasing the level of emotion.”

To learn more about their design process and the future of Korean design at large, listen to the episode six of Design Tangents now.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. When each episode comes out it will be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Matthew Dear: Design Tangents Episode Five

The musician, composer, DJ and fine artist on his creative process and making the music for our podcast

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

10 May 2023

We first stepped into the Michigan studio of musician, composer, DJ and fine artist Matthew Dear in 2007 to chronicle his sonic creations for a COOL HUNTING video. Over the years, we’ve continued to track the milestones of this prolific creator, and we easily agreed that Dear would be the ideal subject for episode five of the COOL HUNTING podcast, Design Tangents—especially considering the fact that he created the music for the series.

As with previous installments of Design Tangents, the conversation unfolds in unexpected ways—from the parallels between fishing and releasing music to being the founding artist at Sam Valenti’s Ghostly International record label. Dear also addresses his immersion into visual arts, from making “dad memes” to dropping NFTs and finding meditation through creation.

You need to be an editor. You need to be a manager. You need to be a graphic designer. You need to be a copywriter for your own press releases—all on top of being a musician.

Dear, who teaches a class at the University of Michigan, offers plenty of insight on his craft throughout the discussion. “How do you make a mark or how do you get recognized in this day and age? How do you release music and be seen? ” he asks us (and his students). “You need to be an editor. You need to be a manager. You need to be a graphic designer. You need to be a copywriter for your own press releases—all on top of being a musician.”

During the podcast, Dear guides us through his process and emphasizes what’s most meaningful. “For me it’s always been necessity,” he says. “I don’t like the idea of making stuff that doesn’t need to be made.” Learn more from Dear, and get insight on the music he crafted for the podcast, by listening to episode five now.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. When each episode comes out it will be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Culture

Jihan Zencirli: Design Tangents Episode Four

The installation artist on shifting from ephemeral work to a concept that she hopes will last a thousand years

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

26 April 2023

For Jihan Zencirli, sometimes known as Geronimo, curiosity is the key to the future. “As an artist, I want to ask all the questions,” she explains in episode four of the COOL HUNTING podcast, Design Tangents. “What should our lives look like? How can we challenge things that exist just because they’ve existed for many years? Can we move forward by just questioning?” Throughout our latest podcast installment, Zencirli (who we documented in 2018, for a video now on DesignTV) walks CH founders Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten down many thought provoking tangents—from her art cult invitation to the pageantry of religion and why her practice is shifting from ephemeral work to a concept that she hopes will last a thousand years.

Zencirli first became known as a balloon artist, selling kits with tassels and soon after populating events with wondrous creations. Today, her studio stages large-scale public works aimed at spreading smiles the world over. Zencirli’s path to Geronimo was filled with many kismet moments, including early support from the pop star Sia to an accidental affiliation with the mission to end Osama bin Laden and even an unexpected phone call from Donatella Versace. Along the way, Zencirli continued to reinvent herself and her artist persona.

I like to think of myself as the Q-tip or Kleenex of the balloon industry.

“It took me years to think of myself as an artist because I just was [being] myself,” Zencirli says in the episode, but “over the years of learning about how to talk about what I love, it created my artist’s heart.” Now, she adds, she likes “to think of myself as the Q-tip or Kleenex of the balloon industry.” Listen to Zencirli explain how Instagram led to her partnership with the New York City Ballet and how web3—and her work with Doodles—changed her perspective on the art world at large. As with previous episodes, the insights are plentiful and the conversation is uplifting.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Jeff Staple: Design Tangents Episode Three

The streetwear trailblazer and obsessive observer tells us about his craft, being a college dropout and collaboration

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

12 April 2023

Is it a vibe or is it a discipline? Designing streetwear requires understanding a far-reaching and often unexpected mix of cultural cues. For Jeff Staple, a pioneer in the space and multi-talented individual, synthesizing these observations is second nature. In this episode of Design Tangents, Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten talk to Staple about his journey of discovering design, disappointing—and eventually impressing—his parents, mastering product collaborations and more. We also hear some key lessons along the way, including a spot-on gumbo metaphor, how to maintain one’s integrity and why the 17-year-old is “the most powerful person in the universe.”

An original force behind the streetwear phenomenon, Staple went to school for journalism at NYU and then communications design at Parsons, and dropped out of both. Staple being “a double dropout” caused a rift within his family—he is the first child born in the US and the first to have graduated high school, and there was a lot of pressure on him to succeed in his scholarly and professional pursuits. He began tinkering with the idea of Staple the brand in the mid ’90s, launching it in 1997 when he was just 22 years old.

I still believe that when you take the time to explore and go out to these nooks and crannies and pockets of neighborhoods in different areas of the world, there’s still a vibe and spirit that can’t be translated through social media

Fueled by his multi-disciplined background, broad interests and a natural sense for identifying what younger generations within cities were doing, Staple has been at the helm of the brand for 25 years now. Over those decades, much has changed in the world—and with streetwear. When Staple started out, he was ensconced in the NYC skate and streetwear scene and he saw the early stages of sneaker reselling, as individuals traveled overseas to buy specific styles and sell them back home for a premium. From there, the rise of the internet and e-commerce was rapid, and he says that it’s certainly brought about a homogeneity within streetwear—and fashion in general. “If something pops off in Chengdu and it’s bubbling, literally in about six hours it’ll be bubbling in New York. Previously that might have taken three years. But I still believe that when you take the time to explore and go out to these nooks and crannies and pockets of neighborhoods in different areas of the world, there’s still a vibe and spirit that can’t be translated through social media. And you can create really interesting product that really touches only that subset or that city.”

Authenticity within his profession, literally and abstractly, is crucial—and it all boils down to his genuine enthusiasm for the streetwear scene and community. “I don’t want to grow up, I am still a 17-year-old kid in my head,” he says. “Therefore if I create something or do something or speak on something that feels corny to me, I can pretty damn well be sure it also sounds corny to the teenager. I keep the same barometer in my head.”

“I take a lot of care and pride in everything I do, but at the same time, strangely enough, I don’t take it that seriously. We’re not out here curing cancer, we’re making cool stuff for people. I also know all of this can end tomorrow… nobody stays on top forever,” he explains. “Always remember we’re on this Earth for such a short amount of time. Let’s be as good as we can, contribute as much as we can, don’t hurt anybody, don’t be a dick. It’s pretty simple.”

Listen now for Staple’s tales from his first job to his first silkscreened T-shirt; collaborating with Nike back when their only partnerships were with athletes; the energy of NYC in the ’90s; the growth of the internet, e-commerce and social media; foodie culture; travel; web3; his new book, Jeff Staple: Not Just Sneakers, and beyond.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Culture

Nick Cave and Bob Faust: Design Tangents Episode Two

This duo’s friendship became a business partnership and then transformed into a love story that ventures far beyond art

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

5 April 2023

It takes a certain kind of compatibility to be creative collaborators and for those who are also life partners, it becomes even more nuanced. Contemporary artist Nick Cave and creative director Bob Faust are one such duo, and their disciplines are as diverse as they are numerous. We were privileged to visit Cave and Faust at their Chicago studio and home to dig into their respective processes and the Venn diagram of their art, activism, community-building, personal and collaborative output, and private lives for the second episode of Design Tangents.

“I’ve always been kind of fearless,” Cave tells us. “I just jump in, I don’t know where I’m going to land, but I’m going to land somewhere somehow. That’s just part of my nature—being willing to risk it. If I don’t have the risk I think I’m kind of bored or I move onto something else.”

That risk-taking led to their very first collaborative project several years ago. Faust invited Cave to his studio, where one design prompt from the former was met with another from the latter. “I was interested in the process of, ‘How do we get there? How do we figure it out?'” Cave says. He was convinced that Faust was the perfect person to collaborate with. It was such a success that the two made a project every year for the next five or six years in order to continue working together. Over time, they became friends, business partners and fell in love.

The pair both believe that proper preparation leads to saving time, working efficiently and ultimately successful outcomes. “We never work overtime,” Cave says. “That’s just because I am really interested in being in the moment and being present… When we’re clear, when we know what the vision is, everything will fall into place. If I’m stressed out and the studio is stressed out, it’s not an environment I want to be near—ever.”

In this episode, listeners will learn how upcycled knitwear brought them together, how they support each other’s work, how they develop projects that create an impact and how their new fashion vision (which we can’t wait to see manifest) has come together.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette and Samantha Sager and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.